Achiote Turkey Breast

[Billy]

A few weeks ago I was at the Asian market buying pork belly for bacon when I spied some banana leaves in the freezer and got inspired to make some cochinita pibil out of some butts. I got some achiote paste from the Hispanic market, but alas, haven't had time to do butts, so yesterday I decided to do a turkey breast with some of my paste. Never having done this, I looked around on the web and settled on a loose translation of an epicurious recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/4370?recip...GRAVY&saved_to_box=y

Turkey breast (bone-in, I brined mine)
half brick achiote paste (~2T)
olive oil
3/4 stick butter, room temp
onion, quartered
ancho chile, toasted then reconstituted in hot water and cut into strips

1. Mash the achiote paste with just enough olive oil to get it wet and into a very thick paste. Then blend the butter and paste in a bowl.
2. Pat the breast dry, season with salt and pepper, then work half the achiote butter under the skin and spread the rest around the outside.
3. Stuff the breast with the chile strips and onion (this is tricky with just the breast, but they will stay in if you get it on the grill).
4. Cook on WSM @250-275 until breast hits 160F.

We ate it with the gravy detailed in the epicurious recipe and mashed potatos, and it really blew us away! Really a great use of regional flavors and a different spin on turkey.

Plus, I've got enough breast meat left to make turkey chilaquiles tonight...

 

[K Kruger]

Chilaquiles for breakfast! A favorite.

The turkey idea is a good one. When ready to do cochinita give this a look. I made the paste from scratch but you can use what you bought. You can also do the pork in a banana leaf-line pan, covered with more leaves, rather than make packets as I did.

 

[Billy]

Well, the chilaquiles will be dinner because this guy doesn't leave enough slack between getting up and getting to work

Thank you very much for the link...I actually found your thread in the course of my research previously and will definitely steal some ideas from it. It's very helpful.

I'll use a leaf-lined pan and put a bit of marinade in the pan. I'll also stick with the pre-made paste since I don't have any annatto seeds and it's so danged convenient.

Regarding the meat prep...I see you used chunks of meat. I have been debating chunks vs whole butt. Traditionally, a suckling pig is placed whole into a pit which leads me to just using the butt intact, while chunks would result in more achiote penetration. Maybe I'll try both and just deal with the unequal cooking times.

The few times I've ordered it in Mexico I got a shank wrapped in a banana leaf, but that was in central Mexico as opposed to the Yucatan.

 

[K Kruger]

It's not always a suckling pig, sometimes it's much larger. I've had butt and picnic there as well. Cooks with ovens will use them unless it is a special occasion.

 

[Billy]

As opposed to a new thread, I'll just stick the chilaquiles recipe here (cross between an epi recipe and MIL's recipe)...even though this is a chilaquiles verdes recipe, the chilaquiles came out more rojos due to the achiote! They still had the nice tart acidity of chilaquiles verdes:

Serves 2 with leftovers (very easily doubled):

8oz day or two old tortillas cut into strips
10-12oz chopped/shredded turkey breast leftovers
1/2 onion (I like red, but really any will do)
1c chicken stock
1-1.5c salsa verde (to taste)
1c shredded mozzarella
Garnishes: chopped cilantro, queso fresco crumbled, white onion chopped finely, crema mexicana, sunny side up egg

1. The only cumbersome part - In a large skillet, fry the strips in oil in batches until cripsy, drain on paper towels (don't salt)
2. Pour off the oil, saving 1-2T. Fry the onion until soft (not browned).
3. Add turkey and chicken stock, simmer until reduced to 1/4c liquid, 10-15m.
4. Stir in salsa, remove from heat, and toss with the tortilla strips and cheese.

Enjoy with the garnishes.

Optional 5. After step 4, put the skillet in a ~375 oven for 10m until cheese is bubbly and the 'exposed' tortilla are a bit browned. I like step 5, my MIL doesn't, but she did turn me on to putting a runny sunny side up egg on top of them.